Tag Archives: Controlled Authoring

Innovation takes many forms. In rare cases, it’s creation from scratch, completely novel, utterly unpredicted. More commonly, it’s a union of existing elements, combined in some new or unique way and adjusted for a specific purpose. When applied to biological systems, this is called “emergence” – a higher-level system emerges from a set of lower-level components. Many medical device innovations follow this pattern. Here’s an example from one of our clients – a device that keeps a heart beating (that’s right, when you see it live, the heart is in there, pumping away: incredible) so that it can be transported over longer distances for a life saving transplant. All of the components of this remarkable device existed before they were combined in this specific manner and for this specific purpose: emergence-based innovation. The benefit of an “emergent systems” approach like this is that it reduces risk – of course, there’s the overall risk of the emergent system to consider – but the basis for the system is proven and reliable.

TransPerfect Medical Device Solutions takes a similar approach – we’ve combined validated XML publishing technology with guided authoring capabilities and translation process automation (including online translation review) to produce what we call “The EnCompass System” for labeling automation – a system that can eliminate over +50% of the cost of a traditional, document-based labeling systems: emergence-based innovation! And, our approach has the benefit of lower risk because the modules that make up the EnCompass System have been validated by the world’s leading medical device manufacturers.

The EnCompass System is tomorrow’s content management solution today – and based on industry standards (DITA/XML) so your content won’t be held hostage by proprietary formats.

You have to admit, William Blake had a flair for the bizarrely dramatic – consider his rendition of Kronos (father of the Greek gods) devouring one of the Olympians.

Translation companies might have the same reaction to eliminating DTP revenue as someone seeing this Blake painting for the first time. After all, DTP expense can account for up to 50% of the total localization budget for some manufacturers – that’s a lot of revenue for a service provider to give up.

We had a different reaction to XML for a few reasons:

> Two of the leading XML publishing systems, Vasont Systems and Astoria Development, are part of TransPerfect Medical Device Solutions – we have the tools and know-how to implement these systems.

> We know that approximately 50% of the error risk in a translation production process is due to formatting – eliminate formatting and you eliminate risk.

> It’s just the right thing to do: manufacturers are working to expand their markets by lowering unit costs so that they can serve more patients – helping them to lower costs is the same thing as expanding access to lifesaving devices for patients around the world.

So, yes, when it comes to DTP revenue we ARE “eating our young” – but it’s a good thing for manufacturers AND for patients.

Because content is the lifeblood of the medical device industry, a fragmented content strategy can create lots of “noise” – disruptions, delays, complaints and cost-overruns in your labeling or documentation processes. This, in turn, contributes an estimated $400 million in excess industry costs every year…doctor, this patient needs your help!

On the surface, Suzanne Vega’s Blood Makes Noise might seem like an unusual choice as background music for a medical device blog. After all, it describes a panic attack.

However, as anyone will tell you (with 20+ years experience) in medical device content development and content management (including regulatory, labeling, and marketing) an occasional sense of panic is not-so-very out of the ordinary. Uncontrolled content has that effect – especially if it prompts a significant recall, derails a key project, jeorpardizes product compliance, or requires destruction of printed materials.

If you’ve ever felt even a little anxious about the cost or complexity of medical device content, you’ll identify with Suzanne’s perspective: